Man Arrested in Rajasthan Brought to Mumbai after Billboard Collapse

Bhinde, the owner of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, was arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch after a massive manhunt. This came after the catastrophic incident on Monday evening when a 120 feet by 120 feet billboard collapsed onto a nearby petrol pump, causing 16 deaths and injuring 75 others. Following the incident, Bhinde fled Mumbai in a car with his driver. A total of eight teams from the Mumbai Police were dispatched to various locations to locate Bhinde, who was finally tracked down in Udaipur on Thursday evening, three days after the hoarding collapse.

According to the police, Bhinde fled to Lonavala and then returned to Mumbai the next day. From there, he went to Thane, then to Ahmedabad, and after changing locations several times, he changed his name and hid in a hotel in Udaipur. Mumbai Polie teams led by Joint CP Crime Lakhmi Gautam, DCP Vishal Thakur, and the Crime Branch tracked him down and took him into custody. The search and rescue operation at the collapse site concluded at 10 am on Thursday, as confirmed by an official from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

The illegal billboard had been installed on land under the possession of the Government Railway Police (GRP). This incident has highlighted severe lapses in the regulatory oversight of advertising installations in Mumbai, sparking calls for stricter enforcement of safety standards.